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Come Heller high water …. the November 29th edition

Matt Lauer? Garrison Keillor? Jeez, who’s next – Tom Hanks? Tom Brokaw? Bernie Sanders? Homer Simpson? Mr. Rogers? Prince Harry? Bill Nye the Science Guy? Capt. Kangaroo? Santa Claus? I mean, come on, aren’t we at the point where it would be more efficient to just have the celebrities who haven’t sexually harassed a woman step forward? I’ve said it many times before but I don’t get what women see in my gender. I really don’t.

What was that old expression about creepy guys having Roman hands and Russian fingers? Maybe we need a Roman Hands Russian Fingers Hall of Shame.

This week in “Oh Jeez, What Did He Do Now?” we have the Trumpster posting links to anti-Muslim snuff films. My. God. Every week I think he can’t go farther beyond the pale, and every week – almost every day now – I’m proven wrong. (A snuff film, btw, is a film where someone is actually murdered. Yes, he did that. Our president. Aren’t we proud.)

First runner-up this week was Trump calling Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas” during his tribute to Navajo code talkers. I didn’t think it was nearly as racist as it was disappointing and inappropriate, in that it took the focus off them and put it on him). It was also witless. That’s the thing with Trump – he seems to think he’s hysterically funny, but he’s not. He’s just mean, small and endlessly self-referential. I suspect he never developed a true sense of humor because underlings and servants always laughed at whatever dumb stuff he said. Sucking up never helps anyone.

How about we try trickle up economics for a change instead of trickle down? In trickle up economics, Congress gives regular Americans earning less than 100K a real tax cut and we spend it if we feel like it, thereby benefiting business owners. That’s a heckuva lot more likely to happen than rich people creating jobs just because they get a huge tax break. That’s fairy tale stuff there.

Huh, whattya know, Seinfeld was right about the second button making or breaking the shirt. I have a new shirt where the second button is a skosh too high, so even if the top button is unbuttoned I feel like I’m being strangled. But if I unbutton the second button, I’m flashing chest hair like a ‘70s rock star.

You know it was a cold November when a 40 degree day seems balmy.

I was never a fan anyway, but Black Friday has lost all meaning. Now the sales are all in the vicinity of Black Friday. Soon they’ll just be plain old “sales,” which usually aren’t sales in the first place. A sale usually means no one wants the stuff or it was too pricey to begin with

I did see a few TV news clips where shoppers in big cities stampeded through the door for a Black Friday sale. It was pretty ugly. Not sure I’d want to know any of those people. It’s just stuff, folks. If the store runs out, guess what, they’ll get more.

OK, open question for you football experts. Why is it a touchdown the second a football “breaks the plane” of the goal line without the ball ever touching the ground but it’s not when a receiver catches the ball in the end zone then loses control after he lands? That makes no sense.

Empty big box stores are a growing problem in metro Detroit and a lot of other cities in Michigan. There’s an easy fix, though. Give the owners a year to sell it or pay for demolition and lose the land. Easy-peasy.

The University of Michigan and Michigan State University are tying themselves in a knot over whether to let a white supremacist speak on campus. Why? Just let the nitwit speak. That’s how people learn what nitwits sound like.

Dammit, the Detroit Pistons are finally good after a decade of being bad but I can’t seem to generate any interest in them or the NBA, and I’m not sure why. Is it just me or are others feeling the same way?

Does anyone else think it’s a shame for cities to chop down these huge, vibrant trees for the town square, the state capital and the White House?

Has the expression “jumped the shark” jumped the shark?

“People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson.

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Agree with you about the big box stores. Meijers did the right thing by tearing down the Pierson road store. It’s a shame that they closed it but the crime and shop lifting got so bad they had no choice. An Applebee’s across the street not more than 4 years old sits empty. Not sure what they’ll do with that.

I like that trickle up economics idea. There is a lot of cool stuff I would be buying if only I had a real tax cut. Isn’t that what the corporations want? For me to buy stuff?

Does anyone really think these wealthy corporations can’t create new jobs with the profits they have now? They are not in this business to create jobs, they are in it to make money. How they get that money doesn’t matter, as long as they get it.

I read that the senate republicans want to put a quick stop in the new tax bill . If the so called cuts in taxes causes the debt to rise they can do away with the tax cuts and raise taxes. Funny thing is that quick stop does not include corporate taxes, they will stay at the same low rate. Wow, what a deal.

Not sure about the crime thing with the Meijer’s Jim. I have tried to fact check, and have gotten no reliable information to that effect. It is sounding more like a rumor, and a bit racist, to be honest. I shopped at that store AT LEAST 2-3x a week for > 20 years. Never saw a single problem. The newspaper stated that Meijer’s closed it due to being an expensive building due to it’s age, and outdated HVAC, etc.

Nothing racist about it. Never said a word about race. Problem is policy was and is in most stores you let shoplifters take it and don’t stop them. Way down on the flint police priority list to respond. People walk in take what they want and walk out. So if a store is doing that much business do you think a hvac problem is the reason they closed? How old is the Center Rd store or the Hill road store? Did you try to find the reason the Applebees closed? Not a word in the news media. Don’t you think it’s a little obvious? Crime. I think your obvious referral to race is a bit racist. M

I absolutely agree about the trees. Chop down a century old healthy tree so some POS politicians can slap some lights on it and claim to be keeping Christ in Christmas. Ugh….just make a 40′ artificial tree.

OK–one more comment on the sexual harassment debacle. The issue is getting old at this point. Some women give in to providing sexual favors to further their careers, to get the good parts in movies and other areas of the business, and the notoriety that goes with it.
But now they all want to take that “fame”, whatever it may be and cause others to be axed for their part in it. I don’t think that any of the guys who have been fired will end up starving without a job, but guilty or not, these accusations will go to their graves with them. How about their children…..well, would you want to be Matt Lauer’s kid right now?
Here is what I am confused about: Why wait till now to come out with it? If any of them were harassed or assaulted anywhere by “Joe Citizen” you can bet that it would make headlines until this guy is caught. Why did all these women walk away from these unfortunate situations and not say a word? Women who are powerful in the business such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie should have run to the nearest police station and report it. That is way more courageous than waiting 15 years and spill the stories that show how dumb they were to sleep their way to the top.
I can’t wait for some guy to come out now and tell his story about being harassed by women in high places of corporations. It’s coming soon. This can’t get any worse.

Wow. You are angry that women are finally feeling empowered enough to come forward about harrassment and assualt. It seems you would rather they keep quiet and allow this pattern continue without consquences.

By coming forward, men everywhere are getting the message that they can no longer assert their power over women and must actually respect them as equals, instead of pressuring them for sexually favors to advance their careers. What a horrible notion.

Hi Fred,
I didn’t say they should keep quiet, I said they should have brought their accusations to light immediately. Isn’t that what people are supposed to do after they are assaulted? Women ARE empowered, where have you been? There are 3 sides to every story: her side, his side and the truth. But we don’t get much truth anymore.

Well maybe. What I do know is, in every job I have ever had, I can think of instances of men doing or saying lewd things in the presence of women. They were usually men of an older generation teaching the boys how to behave in the work place.

This is learned behavior that has been going on for a long time. To my knowledge, those women usually just turned the other cheek, because they were taught that this is just the way men are and there is nothing they can do about it .

If you think it is easy to report assault in that culture, you are mistaken. It should be, and granted it is easier than it once was, but I suspect it is still a very hard and humiliating experience for a woman to endure. They will often decide to just let it go and hope it doesn’t happen again. I mean who wants to be put on the witness stand to tell their story over something that should never had happened in the first place?

Like I said this is a learned behavior on both sides that has become part of our culture and cultures around the world, where men feel entitled to behave that way. Now that they are being held accountable, maybe that will change. Wouldn’t that be a good thing? Better late than never right?

GM and the UAW had a program we all had to go through about sexual harassment. Believe it or not this happened over twenty years ago. No swearing no sexual innuendos eyes no lower than the neck. Fred you’re right most of the old guys were the problem.

Linda Ann- Women are NOT always empowered in their jobs. Where have YOU been? I don’t know one woman who hasn’t had to deal with some sort of harassing behavior in the workplace and just put it off for fear of reprisal. It is clear that the tipping point has occurred and the culture is now being forced to change.

Sorry to disagree with using live Christmas trees. I was a Christmas tree farmer for over 40 yrs. and just retired last yr. Those large trees are not century old trees, they are most likely 20 to 40yrs old. Christmas trees grow fairly rapid and are grown to be harvested. I have planted close to 50,000 trees in my career and harvested them. Much oxygen was put in the air with those trees that otherwise would not be there if not for live tree sales. Fake trees cost energy to produce and do not rot. With all the talk about fake news, please use a REAL TREE for Christmas.

Amen, Teddy! You beat me to it. I was going say the same thing. People who grow trees know that after a while some are too big and crowd out others. And these “tree-huggers” don’t understand that the fake ones cost more energy and affect the ecosystem in other ways. Trees are grown for many uses – housing, furniture, etc. Trees are useful but are not in themselves sacred.

Ann B, I like the old growth trees just as much as anyone and we have parks with protected areas for those trees. Lets keep these areas as they are but commercial trees are grown to be harvested, just as any food crop. We agree.

I have been middle class for over 30 years. Prior to that I was a bit poorer. My 401k has increased about 30% from President Trump’s inauguration day until today. My retirement will be FAR BETTER due to the effect of trickle down economics. As of right now I could literally retire 5 years sooner than under Obama. ( Should I choose to do so) I plan to continue working and riding out this gangbuster economy and it’s awesome impact on my 401k.

Trickle down economics got me….
1. A bigger retirement home on the lake
2. A bigger boat
3. Better lives for my children and grandchildren.
4. A much happier wife
5. Hope for the American future

What kind of shape was your 401k when George W Bush left office? Like everyone else about half of what it was after bush destroyed the economy. You gained more than fifty percent under President Obama. The stock market was on its way up before trump took office. Those are the facts and you can spin your fantasies any way you like!

Your right Jim. Remember when Reagan was in office and the trickle on down theory from cutting taxes. Then President Bush came in office and had to break his promise about no new taxes. The Country was going broke and he had no choice but to raise taxes. Same thing is going to happen again and all the so called gains you make in stock is going to be sucked up in higher taxes.

Under both Bush and Obama my 401k saw anemic growth rates. Bush was by no means any form of conservative, free market, politician. Just because he had an “R” next to his name does not mean he was a free market ally. President Trump is a free market ally and is helping my life IMMENSELY.

I am sorry, are you implying that trickle down economics are the reason for your good life and that they just started in the last year and you owe all the credit to Trump? Trump has not done anything and Congress has not passed anything that would have that effect. Any strokes of good luck you are enjoying right now can be chalked up to an Obama era policy.
The stock market and 401k rates have been on the rise for the last several years. It has nothing to do with Trump, but I am sure he takes credit for it and you applaud him for it. But as soon as things start going south, we know it is going to be Obama’s fault right?

The person who made my 401k work so well for my family is ME. It was not Obama. In fact Obama is an enemy of the free market. He tried very hard to make our country and economy as socialist as possible. A free market economy with pro growth economic policy is the key to success. President Trump believes in and is very actively pursuing a robust, free market economy. His economic policies will strongly help working Americans. Obama and the Democrats want more people on welfare and fewer working. We need to GUT every Obama policy that threatens our economy.

If the economy continues to grow at even half the rate we have witnessed since President Trump was elected, American investors and workers will be doing great. The next step in a robust economy is the upcoming tax reform. I look forward to seeing you Democrats cry over that one as well! 🙂

It’s nice that your 401k has gone up. That’s the effect of corporate (share) ownership, and is not trickle down. You are fortunate enough to own a piece of the company. How much “trickles down” to wage earners who don’t have enough left at the end of the month to invest? Or better, how often have you noticed the minimum wage being raised by these businesses, due to trickle down?

I’ll add to what Teddy Luna has said, above. Check out how the economy has fared under each Republican president in your lifetime. (Remember that the economic effect carries on at least a year after the term ends.). Now how has the economy fared under Democrats? Biggest con going is that Republicans are the party of “fiscal responsibility” .

About The Author

Andrew Heller has been an enduringly popular newspaper columnist in Michigan since at least 1987. Could be earlier. He's old - he forgets. What can you do? He wrote his first column for the Escanaba … Continue Reading

Come Heller High Water II is the smash hit follow-up to Come Heller High Water I. It includes everything from Andy's takes on modern life to conversations with his back home pal Moon Dimple, and much, much more.

Saving the World One Column at a Time is a bitingly funny look at the world through the eyes of this award-winning columnist. In it he takes on corporate crooks, Little League parents, tongue piercers, ketchup sinners and much, much more. A must-have for Heller fans.